One of the manifold remarkable aspects of the 2024 US presidential race is how quickly the news cycle moves on. Just over two weeks ago, an assassination attempt was made on Donald Trump — an episode that was expected to dominate and “reshape” the race. And yet the sheer volume of election news since then has made this feel like a distant memory. Indeed, in the past week, the number of Americans looking up “Trump shooting” online has been eclipsed by the number putting another search term into Google: “JD Vance couch”.
这次搜索与一则谣言有关,谣言称特朗普的竞选搭档万斯在他的畅销回忆录《乡下人的悲歌》(Hillbilly Elegy)中承认自己曾与一张沙发发生性关系——尽管这则谣言毫无根据,但被大家疯狂玩梗。然而,虽然这不能怪罪于万斯,但一系列错误判断、说错话和让人非常尴尬的表现却是他自己的锅。这些因素结合在一起,使得这位俄亥俄州参议员在社交媒体上被持续群嘲。